


Thought Experiment

by Triss_Hawkeye



Category: Scumbag System (Donghua), 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Buddhism, Gen, Philosophy, SQQ being a pretentious git, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28137579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triss_Hawkeye/pseuds/Triss_Hawkeye
Summary: Shen Qingqiu attempts to allay Liu Qingge's suspicions.
Relationships: Liǔ Qīnggē & Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū & System
Comments: 16
Kudos: 69
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Thought Experiment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kitsunealyc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitsunealyc/gifts).



“Are you  _ sure _ you’re not possessed?” 

Shen Qingqiu turned from the window, where he had quite happily been contemplating the pleasant view, and wondering whether a bamboo forest as extrapolated from a description in a novel had any significant differences from a bamboo forest in real life. Truly a deep, philosophical kind of musing quite suitable for the Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak, but he’d have to put it to one side for a bit, since one Peak Lord Liu Qingge was currently stood in his doorway, arms crossed and his shockingly pretty face scrunched into a look of suspicion. 

“Liu-shidi,” he replied, with congenial grace. “How nice of you to check in on me. Please, sit, have some tea.” 

He didn’t even have to call for it—upon noticing Liu Qingge’s arrival, Luo Binghe had apparently preempted his Shizun’s needs entirely, and entered moments later with a laden tray of tea and snacks. Shen Qingqiu sat at the table and watched him lay everything out, his heart full of a sense of fondness. He managed to avoid breaking out entirely into an indulgent smile, but when all was done he permitted one corner of his lips to rise ever so slightly as he said, “Thank you, Binghe. That will be all.”

If his disciple could have glowed in that moment, he would surely have blinded the occupants of the room, as the boy bowed and left with the air of someone who’d won a trophy. Truly, that child was far too easy to please! Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle.

“You’re not helping your case.”

Liu Qingge’s suspicious expression didn’t falter in the slightest. Shen Qingqiu sighed and took a sip of tea while contemplating his response. 

“All right,” he said, finally. “Suppose I were possessed?”

Liu Qingge blinked, and for a moment his face was mercifully clear of its suspicious scowl. “What?”

“Suppose I were possessed,” Shen Qingqiu repeated. “Consider it a thought experiment, if you will. Suppose I am not Shen Qingqiu at all, but rather some other being that has taken over his body and now resides here in Cang Qiong Sect with no one—save your good self, perhaps—any the wiser. What then?” 

He flipped open his fan and looked over its edge with an expression of mild interest in how Liu Qingge would respond, while he took a moment to have a major internal freak-out. 

The System chimed in mid-freakout with a helpful pop-up window. 

`【 It looks like you are attempting to reveal your status as a transmigrator! Please note: should you do so, all point totals will be reset to zero, and you will automatically be ejected from the System. Are you sure you wish to continue? 】`

`【 Also he won’t believe you. 】`

_ Shut it you piece of shit System!!! I said ‘thought experiment’! I’m not revealing anything! We were just talking about possession—is it my fault that that’s spookily analogous to what’s going on here?? Also! Don’t make snide remarks before I’ve even had a chance to respond, you passive-aggressive paperclip!  _

He hammered the ‘X’ to close the pop-up and resumed his observation of Liu Qingge, who was now staring down at his tea in thought.

“I suppose I would have to kill you,” Liu Qingge said, raising his head and nodding decisively. 

_ Don’t make such dramatic statements so calmly!! _

“Now why ever would you do that?” Shen Qingqiu answered smoothly. “Didn’t I save your life? Didn’t I protect a young disciple of mine with my own body? Don’t you find me to be, all in all, a far more likeable person than you used to? Why can’t we decide to be friends, you and the new me?”

“You’d have some agenda, possessing the Peak Lord of the second-highest peak of Cang Qiong Sect,” Liu Qingge groused. “Just because you’re playing nice, doesn’t mean you won’t turn around and stab us in the back.”

Shen Qingqiu sighed. “Well, let’s chalk that experiment up as a failure. Let’s see… Have you heard of—hmm, no.” He caught himself before launching into an unchecked train of thought—he’d been about to mention the problem of the Ship of Theseus, but what would it mean to try and bring up ancient Western philosophy inside a xianxia novel? Did Greece even exist in this world? If he travelled far enough, would he be able to reach some fantasy Mediterranean full of old white guys in togas? Not that Great Master Airplane’s shoddy world-building ever considered such a thing, but what was the alternative—some kind of edge to the world? Or was it just some endless Jianghu that wrapped itself around the entire globe except for where it bordered with the Demon Realm? He shelved that musing for another time when he had access to world maps—that line of thought really raised too many questions. 

He cleared his throat and tried again. “Consider the concept of anatta,” he proposed. Buddhism, that was a safe bet. “The idea that there is no such thing as a permanent, unchanging soul, but rather that the identity of a person is an ever-evolving thing—the self can always change and become better if one decides not to cling too tightly to who one is at any one time. So, perhaps a person can change so thoroughly as to become unrecognisable to someone who knew them before, but is that such a bad thing?” There, that ought to do it—not that he felt at all qualified to start talking like a priest, but this wasn’t a temple or anything, no need for it to be perfect.

Liu Qingge’s brows knitted. “But isn’t the goal of cultivation the opposite of that? To become immortal beings—isn’t that to perfect the self, as you put it, until it is effectively unchanging?”

“Yes, yes, well,” Shen Qingqiu replied irritably, making a dismissive gesture with his fan. Really, it wasn’t fair—Liu Qingge had a beautiful face, peerless fighting skills, and smarts enough to poke holes in his admittedly hastily thrown together analogies. Perhaps it wasn’t a surprise that he’d been killed off so early in the original story—how was any protagonist supposed to compete with such a character? “Put the two together, and you end up with cultivation as a process of refinement, of becoming an ideal version of oneself. Becoming a better version of the same thing is still change, as is getting rid of bad qualities and grudges and whatnot. And so—after spending three years in meditation and reflection and improving my cultivation, why should it surprise you that I seem different from before?”

_ Okay, so, the timelines don’t match up exactly, but since I didn’t encounter Liu Qingge in between transmigrating and entering the Lingxi Caves, he probably won’t notice, right? It’s not like the guy makes a habit of talking in depth with the disciples of Qing Jing Peak anyway. It’ll probably be fine.  _

Liu Qingge snorted. “We have been cultivating alongside each other as members of Cang Qiong Sect for years. I have not undergone any dramatic personality changes, and I am quite confident that no matter what your spiritual improvement may have been, you have always remained a complete asshole. Until recently, anyway,” he added, after a short pause.

Shen Qingqiu grimaced behind his fan. _ Harsh!! But probably fair. _

He was about to make some sort of off-hand snappy reply, but at that moment he realised that Liu Qingge had given him the perfect opportunity to resolve the conversation. 

“On the contrary,” he said, allowing an enigmatic smile to peek out over the fan. “I believe you _have_ changed.”

The rather adorable look of surprise reappeared on Liu Qingge’s face. 

He smirked a little wider and continued. “At first, we didn’t get along at all. To be frank, I thought you were a brash, hot-headed idiot, with no further depth to your personality.” Liu Qingge scoffed, but didn’t interrupt. “But upon reflection, I realised that I couldn’t see you that way any more. And if I allowed my previous judgements to drop away, I saw that you had in fact become someone I very much respect and admire. Perhaps from your perspective you felt no sudden change, but from mine it was a sudden and dramatic revelation! Shidi, I hope you can forgive my lack of perception.”

_ Ha! It’s not even a lie. Liu-bro, you started out as two-dimensional cannon fodder who the original goods always fought with—truly, even as a reader I didn’t get a chance to know you before your untimely demise. But now you’re making leaps and strides as an interesting side character! It’s a pleasant surprise! I’d feel grateful to Great Master Airplane for the good company, although I’m not actually sure any of it is his doing. Well, grats on the character development anyway, wherever it came from.  _

To his surprise, Liu Qingge didn’t seem to have a response to that. The Peak Lord drained his tea cup and put it down on the table with a little more force than was strictly necessarily. “You’ll have to excuse me,” he said in a gruff voice, getting quickly to his feet. “I have some things to consider.” He strode out without another word.

“Catch up soon, then, shidi?” Shen Qingqiu called after him. He laughed softly to himself. Hopefully Liu Qingge would spend enough time mulling over his own behaviour to worry too much about Shen Qingqiu’s—at least enough to not think twice about coming to his aid in the future should he need it. 

`【 Congratulations! You have successfully managed to reduce Liu Qingge’s suspicion level. There will be no B-point reduction. 】`

_ Oh come on, System! Surely you can at least assign me some wisdom or strategy points for all that? Philosophy skill points? Brain points?! Hey System! Are you listening? Do you take constructive criticism?! _

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide!


End file.
